Nifty flat amid choppy trade; Bharti, Sterlite down

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The Nifty was subdued in an early trade, opening below the 5500 level amid volatility. Consistent inflow of foreign money has been supporting the market whereas on other side, concerns like rising oil prices, disappointing economic data from major continents like US & Europe still weighed on the market.

Metals, capital goods and power stocks were down while FMCG, technology and HDFC group companies' shares were on buyers' radar.

The Sensex was down 44.34 points to 18,100.91 and the Nifty fell 18 points to 5,487.50. Asian markets were down on lacklustre economic data from US and Europe. Hang Seng, Straits Times, Kospi and Taiwan Weighted fell 0.5-1%.

In the largecap space, DLF gained 2% as the company is going to sell 350 flats for Rs 500 crore in Gurgaon.

SBI rebounded with 2% gains after clarification on Kingfisher news.

Ranbaxy Labs rose 1.5% ahead of quarterly numbers today.

Among others, TCS, Infosys, ITC,  HDFC, Wipro and Tata Motors were supporting the market.

However, Bharti Airtel fell 3.5% post Econet sought USD 3 billion damages from the company.

Sterlite, Tata Steel, Hindalco, Jindal Steel, Sesa Goa, Coal India, L&T, BHEL, Maruti, M&M and ICICI Bank were under pressure.

The broader markets were flat and even the breadth was neutral.

Among the second line shares, Kingfisher Airlines fell over 1% as I-T department continued to freeze company's accounts. Also, SBI said it has not given any fresh loans to Kingfisher.

UCO Bank, Dena Bank and LIC Housing Finance were down 1-2%.

However, Alfa Laval shot up 15% after its delisting offer received strong response.

ABB rose 3.5% ahead of quarterly numbers.

Voltas, Shree Renuka, Alok Industries and Dish TV gained 1-2%.